The open night air was cool and dark, the stars shining brightly, and the moon still struggling against the clouds to illuminate the castle grounds.
She had taken them to one of her favorite spots, a small overlook on the roof that looked out onto the grounds, with the lake stretching endlessly to their right, and the Forbidden Forest looming to the left.
Sirius was next to her, his arms wrapped around her bare shoulders to fend off the chill. He looked out, and let out a sigh of what might have been awe, removing his mask to be able to see better.
"How did you find this place?" He asked in wonder. It had taken them several secret passages before they had found the hidden trapdoor entrance.
"Well, Gryffindors aren't the only ones with secrets," she smiled slyly, pushing her mask up onto the top of her head. He laughed in response, and her smile grew.
"Speaking of, there's something that you didn't tell me," she hinted.
"And what might that be?" He bluffed.
"Today, or more precisely at 11:41 p.m, exactly 17 minutes from now, it will be your birthday," she stated. He simply smiled a little in the moonlight that was foggy from the clouds.
"Did James tell you?" He asked, not very curious.
"No. Peter."
"Aha, that little rat! I should have known. I told him not to say anything," he replied, hardly sounding as annoyed as his words suggested him to be.
"Thank Merlin for Peter. I wouldn't have known if he hadn't said something. Why didn't you tell me?" She pouted, her eyes large and expressive.
"Birthdays aren't much for me. At home... Well, it's just another opportunity for my mother to force the family blood on me. 'Here Sirius, have this incredibly fricking wonderful quill that everyone on your family tree once owned. It's worth more than twenty galleons. Oh, and it's got the damn family crest all over it as well. Love it, or we'll disown you.' I don't usually make a fuss," he explained. Although his words were sharp, he still managed to use a light tone. In fact, while impersonating his mother, he had used a ridiculously high pitched voice in mock, which in turn kept the situation free of burden. The pair laughed softly for a moment.
"Still, it hardly left me time to get anything. So thank you again for that. Fortunately for you, I've managed to scrounge up something at the last minute that might do, under the circumstances," teased Rose.
"Oh, under the circumstances?" He asked, gently pushing a loose curl back behind her ear.
"Yes. I've done quite a bit of research for this gift, and I think you'll enjoy it."
"I'd assume so, considering it's coming from you."
She laughed softly.
"All right. Have you ever heard of a patronus charm?"
"It rings a bell, but I'll admit, I don't know exactly," he admitted.
"It's a protection spell, used against things like dementors and lethifolds. Creatures that survive off of the happiness of others. The patronus charm is the only known defense against them." She paused to make sure he understood. He nodded.
"And?"
"Well, the full form of a patronus is an animal, sort of a burst of light that sort of chases the monsters away. It's supposed to be very difficult to cast. And the research I've done... Well, there are only three registered animagi currently, but for each of them, the animal form of their patronus and animagus are the same," she stated.
Sirius' eyes lit up.
"So if we can cast the patronus-"
"We'll know what our animagus is. Without waiting another three months," she finished.
The night suddenly seemed much less deep and mysterious, more open to them, more alive with possibility.
"So, how do we cast this incredibly challenging charm, exactly?" Sirius asked.
"Well, you sort of flick your wrist like this, and then, it gets tricky. You have to try to use happiness, to focus on a happy thought or memory, to create the corporeal patronus. Then you have to say 'Expecto Patronum'."
Sirius took his wand out of his pocket and practiced the movement.
"Have you done this before?" He asked, curious as to what her patronus was.
"No. I haven't tried yet. I... I was waiting for you," she replied, smiling a little sheepishly.
"Well, I'm glad I won't be the only beginner," he grinned, as they both practiced their wand waving, him with his left hand and her with her right, while they held hands.
"Do you have your memory?" She asked after a few minutes.
"No. I could use one," he smiled slyly. She laughed and punched him playfully, but still turned to meet him as he leaned down a bit towards her.
Their kiss this time was full of joy, of simple mirth and bubbling pleasure. By the time they had finished, the cool in the night air had been chased away and had been replaced by their simple satisfaction of being together.
"Ready?" He asked. She nodded, facing him. A happy memory wasn't necessary when you were so full of undisciplined euphoria.
They raised their wands to the sky.
"Expecto Patronum," they whispered, in harmony. For a half second, it looked like nothing was happening. Then, out from the wand tips, figures leapt and began to bound through the night.
Rose's ran, as though on the ground, through the air, racing what had come from Sirius' wand tip, and the pair put on a show for their owners to watch, racing and chasing, and darting around each other.
His was a great beast, a dog, a dark silver shape, all fur and fluff, with a great panting tongue sticking out.
Hers seemingly matched, as it was a smaller and neater version of his, still a dog, but not as gigantic, more dainty and slightly smaller, a border collie, a creature in silver that had it's ears cocked, looking playful and intelligent, as it stopped in front of the couple on the deck and sat facing them. Sirius' hound followed, and nuzzled Rose's dog as it came to a stop.
"They're so beautiful," she gasped in awe.
The rest of the world could have frozen on them, and they wouldn't have noticed.
"Does it mean something when they're the same?" Sirius asked, curiously.
"Well, it's said that when people have the same, or similar patronuses, that they're meant to be together. Soul mates."
A howl split through the night, coming from the direction of Hogsmeade. It was deep with what might have been sorrow, but surely mourning and wretchedness. Pain. It made the patronuses shiver and whimper. Rose stepped a bit closer to Sirius who squeezed her reassuringly.
"Do you think..." She began, looking off into the distance, suddenly worrying about Remus.
"He's safe, wherever he is," Sirius soothed. "That's why we went through this, by the way. For Moony."
"Really?"
"Yeah. He's always suffering, always in so much pain. We decided that the safest way to visit him was like this. Apparently the change only happens if you're bitten as a human."
"And there's no cure?" She asked.
"None."
They looked off into the sky.
Another howl lifted on the night wind.
The pair of them joined in, howling from the roof of the castle, the noise now less sorrowful with the two of them Joined in, noses up towards the full moon, voices pushing out the echo into the late October sky. Their patronuses mirrored them, although they made no sound.
When they ran out of breath, they stopped and felt the cool air flooding into their chests.
She could feel Sirius's heart, feel as she moved with his deep breaths, feel his warmth against her. He reflected her own feelings to her, how light her chest felt, how her heart fluttered like a tiny golden snitch, how she felt like a princess in her dress, standing in her castle with her prince.
She was still wearing her heels, but even then, she had to stand up a bit to reach his lips, barely visible as clouds swept over the moon.
This kiss was long and savory, deep with emotion, something even more than just childish giddiness. It was still and moving, and liquid and solid, and a dream but reality. And for once, they didn't have to stop, and they didn't want to. They kept up until after their patronuses had faded, until her lips were swollen, and she was almost too tired to stand, and he agreed that it would be a good idea to go back before they actually did fall asleep and got into real trouble.
They made their way through the castle, silent and invisible under the cloak, still incredibly close together, Rose now holding her heels because she had taken them off to stop her feet from hurting. They didn't pause until they reached Gryffindor tower, and they pulled off the cloak as they entered the common room, to find Ellie asleep, practically on top of James, who was awake reading an old issue of the Daily Prophet.
"There you are. I was beginning to think that the pair of you weren't going to come back," James smirked.
"Then who would be there to relieve you from your babysitting duty?" Sirius asked, amused by the position that the pair on the couch had assumed.
"I figured I would just wait out the night," James replied, smiling comfortably.
It was a good thing that Ellie didn't snore. Much.
Rose levitated Ellie's sleeping form to follow behind her as she wandered up the stairs to their dormitory, holding two pairs of shoes, hers and Ellie's. She said goodbye to the boys and gave Sirius a quick kiss on the jaw.
Seeing as her hands were full, and she was more than a little bit tired, walking up the stairs was quite dangerous. The stairs were spiral and narrow, and Ellie hit her head on the sides of the stairwell a few times, a slight casualty, seeing as Rose was thoroughly exhausted and struggling not to drop her friend entirely.
She flopped Ellie down into her bed, dress and all, and left her there to sleep. Rose squeezed out of her dress and fell into bed, leaving it on a pile on the floor. She was asleep before she could even worry about hanging it up, or pulling up her covers.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
These chapter titles have been a little weird so far, and I'm still figuring out what I want to do with them, but hopefully I'll ike the rest of them as much as I like this one. I love the black keys. Feel free to review and let me know what you think (even if its not totally positive, I just like having opinions). Thanks for reading, and don't let the muggles get you down!
post edit: wow i have no life except editing this. I just turned dowm a round of mariokart for this i hope it was worth it. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I would so totally give up more mariokart if if meant making your day with a pot. Ttfn.